Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA),<ref name="About Us | Indian Affairs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and administering and managing over Template:Convert of reservations held in trust by the U.S. federal government for indigenous tribes. It renders services to roughly 2 million indigenous Americans across 574 federally recognized tribes.<ref name="About Us | Indian Affairs"/><ref>"Federal Register, Volume 83, Number 141 dated July 23, 2018" (PDF). Library of Congress. RetrievedOctober 5, 2018.</ref> The BIA is governed by a director and overseen by the assistant secretary for Indian affairs, who answers to the secretary of the interior.

The BIA works with tribal governments to help administer law enforcement and justice; promote development in agriculture, infrastructure, and the economy; enhance tribal governance; manage natural resources; and generally advance the quality of life in tribal communities.<ref name="bia.gov">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Educational services are provided by Bureau of Indian Education—the only other agency under the Assistant Secretary for Indian affairs—while health care is the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Indian Health Service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The BIA is one of the oldest federal agencies in the U.S., with roots tracing back to the Committee on Indian Affairs established by Congress in 1775.<ref name="bia.gov"/><ref>Article I, Section 8, U.S. Constitution.</ref> First headed by Benjamin Franklin, the committee oversaw trade and treaty relations with various indigenous peoples, until the establishment of the Bureau of Indian Affairs by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun in 1824. The BIA gained statutory authority in 1832, and in 1849 was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior. Until the formal adoption of its current name in 1947, the BIA was variably known as the Indian Office, the Indian Bureau, the Indian Department, and the Indian Service.<ref name="bia.gov"/>

The BIA's mission and mandate historically reflected the U.S. government's prevailing policy of forced assimilation of native peoples and the annexation of their land; beginning with the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, the BIA has increasingly emphasized tribal self-determination and peer-to-peer relationships between tribal governments and federal government.<ref name="bia.gov"/>

Between 1824 and 1977, the BIA was led by a total of 42 commissioners, of whom six were of indigenous descent. Since the creation of the position of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in 1977, all thirteen occupants up to the present day have been Indigenous, including Bay Mills Indian Community's Bryan Newland, appointed and confirmed to the position in 2021.<ref name="bia.gov"/> Template:As of the majority of BIA employees are American Indian or Alaska Native, the most at any time in the agency's history.<ref name="bia.gov"/>

Organization

File:Us dept of interior building.jpg

Main Interior Building, the department headquarters

Headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C.,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} – Identified as the Main Interior Building here: "The meeting will be held at 1849 C Street, NW, Main Interior Building,[...]"</ref> the BIA is headed by a bureau director who reports to the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. The current assistant secretary, exercising the delegated authority of the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs is Scott Davis.

The BIA oversees 574 federally recognized tribes through four offices:

• Office of Indian Services: operates the BIA's general assistance, disaster relief, Indian child welfare, tribal government, Indian self-determination, and Indian Reservation Roads Program.
• Office of Justice Services (OJS): directly operates or funds law enforcement, tribal courts, and detention facilities on federal Indian lands.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> OJS funded 208 law enforcement agencies, consisting of 43 BIA-operated police agencies, and 165 tribally operated agencies under contract, or compact with the OJS. The office has seven areas of activity: Criminal Investigations and Police Services, Detention/Corrections, Inspection/Internal Affairs, Tribal Law Enforcement and Special Initiatives, the Indian Police Academy, Tribal Justice Support, and Program Management. The OJS also provides oversight and technical assistance to tribal law enforcement programs when and where requested. It operates four divisions: Corrections, Drug Enforcement, the Indian Police Academy, and Law Enforcement.<ref>"Who We Are", BIA</ref>
• Office of Trust Services: works with tribes and individual American Indians and Alaska Natives in the management of their trust lands, assets, and resources.
• The Office of Field Operations: oversees 12 regional offices; Alaska, Great Plains, Northwest, Southern Plains, Eastern, Navajo, Pacific, Southwest, Eastern Oklahoma, Midwest, Rocky Mountain, and Western; and 83 agencies, which carry out the mission of the bureau at the tribal level.

History

File:Ely S. Parker.jpg

Ely S. Parker was the first Native American to be appointed as Commissioner of Indian affairs (1869–1871).

File:Cato Sells, 1913.jpg

Cato Sells, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1913

Early US agencies and legislation: Intercourse Acts

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Agencies related to Native Americans originated in 1775, when the Second Continental Congress created a trio of Indian-related agencies. Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were appointed among the early commissioners to negotiate treaties with Native Americans to obtain their neutrality during the American Revolutionary War.<ref name=ARN>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Office of Indian Trade (1806–1822)

In 1789, the U.S. Congress placed Native American relations within the newly formed War Department. By 1806 the Congress had created a Superintendent of Indian Trade, or "Office of Indian Trade"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> within the War Department, who was charged with maintaining the United States Government Fur Trade Factory System. The post was held by Thomas L. McKenney from 1816 until the abolition of the factory system in 1822.

The government licensed traders to have some control in Indian territories and gain a share of the lucrative trade.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (1824–present)

The abolition of the factory system left a vacuum within the U.S. government regarding Native American relations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was formed on March 11, 1824, by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun, who created the agency as a division within his department, without authorization from the United States Congress.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He appointed McKenney as the first head of the office, which went by several names. McKenney preferred to call it the "Indian Office", whereas the current name was preferred by Calhoun.

The Bureau was initially organized by region, with commissions for Superintendents of Indian Affairs granted to prominent citizens in each region of the southern, midwestern and western United States. These superindenents were authorized to negotiate with tribes and oversaw Indian agents in their assigned region.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The bureau was eventually reorganized in 1878, with superintendencies removed. These were eventually replaced with regional offices, which continue today.

The Removal Era (1830–1850)

The BIA's goal to protect domestic and dependent nations, was reaffirmed by the 1831 court case Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. The Supreme Court originally refused to hear the case, because the Cherokee nation was not an independent state and could not litigate in the federal court.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> It was not until the court case Worcester v. Georgia, when Chief Justice John Marshall allowed Native American tribes to be recognized as "domestic dependent nations." These court cases set precedent for future treaties, as more Native tribes were recognized as domestic and dependent nations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

This period was encompassed by westward expansion and the removal of Native Nations. In 1833 Georgians fought for the removal of the Cherokee Nation from the state of Georgia. Despite the rulings of Worcester v. Georgia, President Jackson and John C. Calhoun created a plan for removal. The removal of the Cherokee Nation occurred in 1838 and was accompanied by the Treaty of 1846. When reparations from the treaty were unfulfilled, the Senate Committee on the Indian Affairs made the final settlement in 1850. This settlement, "supported the position of the Cherokee that the cost of maintaining the tribesman during their removal and the years upkeep after their arrival West should be paid by the federal government, and the expense of the removal agents should be paid as well."<ref name=":0" />

In 1832 Congress established the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1849 Indian Affairs was transferred to the newly established U.S. Department of the Interior. In 1869, Ely Samuel Parker was the first Native American to be appointed as commissioner of Indian affairs.

Assimilation (1890–1930)

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

One of the most controversial policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was the late 19th to early 20th century decision to educate native children in separate boarding schools, such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The goal was to train students in the proper behavior according to prevailing standards of "civilization." That way they could assimilate into American society and not be permanently trapped in reservations. The boarding schools prohibited students from using their indigenous languages, practices, and cultures.<ref>David Wallace Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928 (1995) pp 12-16; see online evaluation of the book.</ref>

Another force for assimilation and Euro-American control was the Bureau of Indian Affairs tribal police force. This was designed by its agents to decrease the power of American Indian leaders.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Reform and reorganization (mid to late 20th century)

File:Indians at work magazine july 1940 navajo lasso native americans cowboy.jpg

1940 Indians at Work magazine, published by the Office of Indian Affairs, predecessor agency to the Bureau of Indian Affairs

The bureau was renamed from Office of Indian Affairs to Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1947.

With the rise of American Indian activism in the 1960s and 1970s and increasing demands for enforcement of treaty rights and sovereignty, the 1970s were a particularly turbulent period of BIA history.<ref>Philip Worchel, Philip G. Hester and Philip S. Kopala, "Collective Protest and Legitimacy of Authority: Theory and Research," The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 18 (1) 1974): 37–54</ref> The rise of activist groups such as the American Indian Movement (AIM) worried the U.S. government; the FBI responded both overtly and covertly (by creating COINTELPRO and other programs) to suppress possible uprisings among native peoples.<ref>The COINTELPRO PAPERS – Chapter 7: COINTELPRO – AIM Template:Webarchive</ref>

As a branch of the U.S. government with personnel on Indian reservations, BIA police were involved in political actions such as:

The occupation of BIA headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 1972: On November 3, 1972, a group of around 500 American Indians with the AIM took over the BIA building, the culmination of their Trail of Broken Treaties walk. They intended to bring attention to American Indian issues, including their demands for renewed negotiation of treaties, enforcement of treaty rights and improvement in living standards. They occupied the Department of Interior headquarters from November 3 to 9, 1972.<ref>Paul Smith and Robert Warrior, Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee, New York: The New Press, 1996.</ref>

Feeling the government was ignoring them, the protesters vandalized the building. After a week, the protesters left, having caused $700,000 in damages. Many records were lost, destroyed or stolen, including irreplaceable treaties, deeds, and water rights records, which some Indian officials said could set the tribes back 50 to 100 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Citation needed

• The Wounded Knee Incident of 1973, where activists at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation occupied land for more than two months.
• The 1975 Pine Ridge shootout (for which Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents).<ref>"American Indian Rights Activist Vernon Bellecourt", Washington Post, October 14, 2007</ref>

The BIA was implicated in supporting controversial tribal presidents, notably Dick Wilson, who was charged with being authoritarian; using tribal funds for a private paramilitary force, the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (or "GOON squad"), which he employed against opponents; intimidation of voters in the 1974 election; misappropriation of funds, and other misdeeds.<ref>John Sanchez, et al. "Rhetorical Exclusion: The Government's Case Against American Indian Activists, AIM, and Leonard Peltier." American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 23(2) (1999): 31+.</ref> Many native peoples continue to oppose policies of the BIA. In particular, problems in enforcing treaties, handling records and trust land incomes were disputed.

21st century

In 2002 Congress worked with the Bureau to prepare bill S.1392, which established procedures for tribal recognition. A separate bill S. 1393 ensured full and fair participation in decision-making processes at the Bureau via grants. Both bills addressed what services, limitations, obligations, and responsibilities a federally recognized tribe possessed. The bills excluded any splinter groups, political factions, and any groups formed after December 31, 2002.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 2013 the Bureau was greatly affected by sequestration funding cuts of $800 million, which particularly affected the already-underfunded Indian Health Service.<ref name="ICT032713">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="NYT032013">Template:Cite news</ref>

Legal issues

Employee overtime

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has been sued four times in class action overtime lawsuits brought by the Federation of Indian Service Employees,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a union which represents the federal civilian employees of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, the assistant secretary of Indian affairs and the Office of the Special Trustee for Indian Affairs. The grievances allege widespread violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and claim tens of millions of dollars in damages.

Trust assets

Cobell vs. Salazar, a major class action case related to trust lands, was settled in December 2009. The suit was filed against the U.S. Department of Interior, of which the BIA is a part. A major responsibility has been the management of the Indian trust accounts. This was a class-action lawsuit regarding the federal government's management and accounting of more than 300,000 individual American Indian and Alaska Native trust accounts. A settlement fund totaling $3.4 billion is to be distributed to class members. This is to compensate for claims that prior U.S. officials had mismanaged the administration of Indian trust assets. In addition, the settlement establishes a $2 billion fund enabling federally recognized tribes to voluntarily buy back and consolidate fractionated land interests.<ref>"Cobell vs. Salazar Lawsuit". doi.gov/tribes/special-trustee.cfm. Office of Special Trustee, n.d. Web. April 24, 2011</ref>

Mission

The bureau is currently trying to evolve from a supervisory to an advisory role. However, this has been a difficult task as the BIA is known by many Indians as playing a police role in which the U.S. government historically dictated to tribes and their members what they could and could not do in accordance with treaties signed by both.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Commissioners and assistant secretaries

Commissioners and assistant secretaries of Indian affairs include:<ref name="dejong preface" />

Superintendents of Indian trade

From 1806 until 1822, relations with the North American tribes were regulated by the Office of Indian Trade within the Treasury Department. Three men were appointed during this time period as superintendents to negotiate treaties with and regulate trade with the native Americans.

Template:Abbr	Image	Superintendent	Term started	Term ended	Notes
1		John Shee	July 8, 1806	October 3, 1807	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
2	File:John Mason by Charles Bird King.jpg	John Mason	October 4, 1807	April 1, 1816	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
3	File:Thomas Loraine McKenney by Charles Loring Elliott, 1856, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 2011 62McKenney d1.jpg	Thomas L. McKenney	April 12, 1816	May 6, 1822	<ref name="McKenney"/>

Superintendent of Indian Affairs

On the same day Congress abolished the trading houses in May 1822, Congress authorized a new position of superintendent of Indian affairs, with President James Monroe nominating, and the Senate confirming, William Clark as superintendent of Indian affairs. In 1824, the office was reorganized and William Clark's position became subservient to the new chief clerk of the Indian Office.<ref name="clark"/>

Template:Abbr	Image	Superintendent	Term started	Term ended	Notes
1	File:William Clark-Charles Willson Peale.jpg	William Clark	May 28, 1822	March 11, 1824	<ref name="clark">Template:Cite book</ref>
			March 12, 1824	September 1, 1838	position became subservient to the chief clerk<ref name="clark"/>

Chief clerks of the Indian Office

The following three persons had served as chief clerk of the Indian Office within the War Department from 1824 until the office was transferred to the Interior Department in 1832:<ref name="Dejong TOC" />

Template:Abbr	Image	Chief Clerk	Term started	Term ended	Notes
1	File:Thomas Loraine McKenney by Charles Loring Elliott, 1856, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 2011 62McKenney d1.jpg	Thomas L. McKenney	March 12, 1824	August 16, 1830	<ref name="McKenney">Template:Cite book</ref>
2		Samuel S. Hamilton	September 30, 1830	August 31, 1831	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
3		Elbert Herring	August 12, 1831	July 9, 1832	<ref name="Herring">Template:Cite book</ref>

Commissioners of Indian affairs

The following persons have led the Bureau of Indian Affairs as Commissioner from 1832 until 1981:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Dejong TOC">Template:Cite book</ref>

Template:Abbr	Image	Commissioner	Term started	Term ended	Notes
1		Elbert Herring	July 10, 1832	July 2, 1836	<ref name="Herring" />
2		Carey A. Harris	July 4, 1836	October 19, 1838	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
3		Thomas Hartley Crawford	October 22, 1838	October 29, 1845	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
4	File:William Medill at statehouse.jpg	William Medill	October 28, 1845	June 30, 1849	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
5	File:Orlando Brown, attributed to George Harrison Hite.jpg	Orlando Brown	June 30, 1849	July 1, 1850	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
6		Luke Lea	July 1, 1850	March 24, 1853	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
7	File:George W Manypenny.png	George Washington Manypenny	March 31, 1853	March 30, 1857	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
8	File:GenJohnWDenver (1).jpg	James W. Denver	April 17, 1857	December 2, 1857	<ref name="Denver">Template:Cite book</ref>
9	File:Charles Eli Mix.jpg	Charles E. Mix	June 14, 1858	November 8, 1858	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
10	File:GenJohnWDenver (1).jpg	James W. Denver	November 8, 1858	March 31, 1859	<ref name="Denver"/>
11	File:Alfred B. Greenwood, Representative from Arkansas, Thirty-fifth Congress, half-length portrait LCCN2010649413 (cropped) (3x4 a).jpg	Alfred B. Greenwood	May 4, 1859	April 13, 1861	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
12	File:William P. Dole (Restored).jpg	William P. Dole	March 12, 1861	July 11, 1865	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
13		Dennis N. Cooley	July 9, 1865	November 1, 1866	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
14	File:Lewis V. Bogy - Brady-Handy (3x4a).jpg	Lewis V. Bogy	November 1, 1866	March 29, 1867	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
15	File:Taylor-nathaniel-green-by-shaver (3x4).jpg	Nathaniel Green Taylor	March 29, 1867	April 25, 1869	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
16	File:Ely S. Parker (3x4).jpg	Ely S. Parker	April 26, 1869	July 24, 1871	first Native American to hold the position<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acting		Henry R. Clum	July 24, 1871	November 20, 1871	<ref name="dejong preface">Template:Cite book</ref>
17	File:Francis Amasa Walker c1885 cropped.jpg	Francis A. Walker	November 27, 1871	January 1, 1873	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
18		Edward Parmelee Smith	March 17, 1873	December 11, 1875	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
19	File:John Quincy Smith from findagrave.jpg	John Q. Smith	December 11, 1875	September 27, 1877	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
20		Ezra A. Hayt	September 20, 1877	January 29, 1880	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
21	File:RowlandETrowbridge (1).jpg	Rowland E. Trowbridge	March 15, 1880	March 19, 1881	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acting		Henry R. Clum	March 19, 1881	April 14, 1881	<ref name="dejong preface" />
22	File:HiramPrice (1).jpg	Hiram Price	May 6, 1881	March 26, 1885	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
23	File:John DeWitt Clinton Atkins - Brady-Handy (2).jpg	John DeWitt Clinton Atkins	March 21, 1885	June 14, 1888	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
24		John H. Oberly	October 10, 1888	June 30, 1889	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
25	File:Thomas Jefferson Morgan (3x4).jpg	Thomas Jefferson Morgan	July 1, 1889	March 3, 1893	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
26		Daniel M. Browning	April 13, 1893	May 3, 1897	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
27	File:William Arthur Jones.png	William Arthur Jones	May 3, 1897	January 1, 1905	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
28	File:Francis E. Leupp (1906).png	Francis E. Leupp	January 1, 1905	June 18, 1909	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
29	File:Robert G. Valentine.jpg	Robert G. Valentine	June 29, 1909	September 10, 1912	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acting		Frederick H. Abbott	September 10, 1912	June 4, 1913	<ref name="dejong preface" />
30	File:SELLS, CATO. COMMR., BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, INTERIOR DEPARTMENT LCCN2016865119 (cropped).jpg	Cato Sells	June 2, 1913	March 29, 1921	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
31	File:Chas. H. Burke, Com. of Indian Affairs, 4-1-21 LOC npcc.03854 (cropped).jpg	Charles H. Burke	May 7, 1921	June 30, 1929	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
32		Charles J. Rhoads	April 18, 1929	April 20, 1933	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
33	File:John Collier (3x4a).png	John Collier	April 21, 1933	January 22, 1945	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
34		William A. Brophy	March 6, 1945	June 3, 1948	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		William R. Zimmerman	June 3, 1948	March 10, 1949	<ref name="dejong preface" />
35		John R. Nichols	April 13, 1949	March 23, 1950	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
36	File:Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Heart Mountain, Wyoming. This picture of Dillon S. Myer, Director . . . - NARA - 539603.jpg	Dillon S. Myer	May 5, 1950	March 19, 1953	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acting		W. Barton Greenwood	March 20, 1953	July 28, 1953	<ref name="dejong preface" />
37		Glenn L. Emmons	August 10, 1953	January 7, 1961	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		John O. Crow	February 10, 1961	September 25, 1961	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
38	File:Photograph of White House aide Philleo Nash with a fish he caught during President Truman's vacation at Key West... - NARA - 200538 (cropped).jpg	Philleo Nash	September 26, 1961	March 15, 1966	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
39		Robert L. Bennett	April 27, 1966	May 31, 1969	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
40		Louis R. Bruce	August 8, 1969	January 20, 1973	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acting		Marvin L. Franklin	February 7, 1973	December 4, 1974	unconfirmed nominee<ref name="dejong preface" />
41		Morris Thompson	December 4, 1973	November 3, 1976	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
42	File:Portrait of Ben Reifel (3x4b).jpg	Benjamin Reifel	December 7, 1976	January 28, 1977	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Acting		Raymond Butler	January 28, 1977	September 19, 1977	<ref name="dejong preface" />
43		William E. Hallett	December 16, 1979	January 19, 1981	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Assistant secretaries of the interior for Indian affairs

The following persons have led the Bureau of Indian Affairs as assistant secretaries of the interior for Indian affairs since 1977:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="dejong preface" />

Template:Abbr	Image	Assistant Secretary	Term started	Term ended	Affiliation	Notes
1		Forrest Gerard	September 12, 1977	January 19, 1980	Blackfeet	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
2		Thomas W. Fredericks	June 18, 1980	January 19, 1981	Mandan–Hidatsa	nominated, but never confirmed by Senate<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
3		Kenneth L. Smith	May 13, 1981	December 7, 1984	Wasco	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
4	File:Ross O Swimmer (cropped).JPG	Ross Swimmer	December 5, 1985	January 29, 1989	Cherokee	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		William Ragsdale	January 29, 1989	June 20, 1989	Cherokee	<ref name="dejong preface" />
5		Eddie Frank Brown	June 26, 1989	July 16, 1993	Yaqui	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
6	File:Ada E. Deer.jpg	Ada E. Deer	July 16, 1993	November 12, 1997	Menominee	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
7	File:Kevin Gover (15520875743) (cropped).jpg	Kevin Gover	November 12, 1997	January 3, 2001	Pawnee	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		James H. McDivitt	January 20, 2001	July 3, 2001		<ref name="dejong preface" />
8	File:Neal McCaleb.jpg	Neal A. McCaleb	July 4, 2001	January 6, 2003	Chickasaw	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		Aurene M. Martin	January 6, 2003	February 2, 2004	Bad River Chippewa	<ref name="dejong preface" />
9		Dave Anderson	February 2, 2004	February 12, 2005	Lac Court Oreille Chippewa	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		Jim Cason	February 12, 2005	March 5, 2007		<ref name="dejong preface" />
10	File:Carl J. Artman.jpg	Carl J. Artman	March 8, 2007	May 23, 2008	Oneida	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		George T. Skibine	May 23, 2008	January 20, 2009	Osage	<ref name="dejong preface" />
11	File:LarryEchoHawkDOI.JPG	Larry Echo Hawk	May 22, 2009	April 27, 2012	Pawnee	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		Donald "Del" Laverdure	April 27, 2012	October 9, 2012	Crow	<ref name="dejong preface" />
12	File:Kevin Washburn 2010.jpg	Kevin K. Washburn	October 9, 2012	December 31, 2015	Chickasaw	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		Lawrence S. Roberts	January 1, 2016	January 20, 2017	Oneida	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="dejong preface" />
acting		Michael S. Black	January 20, 2017	June 11, 2017	Oglala Sioux	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="dejong preface" />
acting		John Tahsuda	September 3, 2017	July 9, 2018	Kiowa	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
13	File:Tara Sweeney official photo (cropped).jpg	Tara Sweeney	July 9, 2018	January 20, 2021	Inupiat	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
acting		Darryl LaCounte	January 21, 2021	September 7, 2021	Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
14	File:Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Tribal Nations Summit on December 9, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (cropped).jpg	Bryan Newland	September 8, 2021	January 20, 2025	Ojibwe	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
acting		Bryan Mercier	January 20, 2025	March 18, 2025	Grand Ronde	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
acting		Scott Davis	March 18, 2025<ref>https://ground.news/article/scott-davis-former-north-dakota-indian-affairs-head-joins-interior-department</ref>	present	Standing Rock Sioux	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
• Administration for Native Americans
• American Indian Movement
• British Indian Department, during American Revolution
• Bureau of Indian Affairs Police
• Confederate States Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Commission of Indian Affairs, state equivalents of the federal Bureau
• Indian agent
• Indian Claims Commission
• Indian reservations
• National Indian Gaming Commission
• Outline of United States federal Indian law and policy

Further reading

• Belko, William S. "'John C. Calhoun and the Creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: An Essay on Political Rivalry, Ideology, and Policymaking in the Early Republic," South Carolina Historical Magazine 2004 105(3): 170–97. {{#if:0038-3082|Template:Catalog lookup link{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}{{#if:Template:Trim|{{#ifeq:Template:Yesno-no|yes|Template:Main other|{{#invoke:check isxn|check_issn|Template:Trim|error=Template:Error-smallTemplate:Main other}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}|Template:Error-small}}
• Brophy, William A., and Aberle, Sophie D. The Indian: America's Unfinished Business. Report of the Commission on the Rights, Liberties, and Responsibilities of the American Indian (University of Oklahoma Press, 1966).
• Cahill, Cathleen D. Federal Fathers and Mothers: A Social History of the United States Indian Service, 1869–1933 (U of North Carolina Press, 2011) 368 pp. online review
• Champagne, Duane. "Organizational change and conflict: A case study of the Bureau of Indian Affairs." American Indian Culture and Research Journal 7.3 (1983). online
• Danziger Jr, Edmund J. "The Indian Office During The Civil War: Impotence in Indian Affairs." South Dakota History 5 (1974): 52–72.

online

• Deloria, Jr., Vine, and David E. Wilkins, Tribes, Treaties, & Constitutional Tribulations (Austin, 1999)
• Fixico, Donald L. Bureau of Indian Affairs (ABC-CLIO, 2012)
• Jackson, Curtis E. and Marcia J. Galli. A history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its activities among Indians (1977) online
• Jackson, Helen H. A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the U. S. Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes (1881) online edition highly critical and widely read in 1880s
• Lambert, Valerie. "The big black box of Indian country: The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the federal-Indian relationship." American Indian Quarterly 40.4 (2016): 333–363. online
• Lambert, Valerie. "Rethinking American Indian and Non-Indian Relations in the United States and Exploring Tribal Sovereignty: Perspectives from Indian Country and from Inside the Bureau of Indian Affairs." PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review 40.2 (2017): 278–294. online
• Leupp, F. E. The Indian and His Problem (1910) online edition
• McCarthy, Robert. "The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the federal trust obligation to American Indians." Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law 19 (2004): 1–160+. online, comprehensive overview
• Meriam, Lewis, et al., The Problem of Indian Administration, Studies in Administration, (Johns Hopkins, 1928), 898 pp; a major scholarly overview; [1]
• Nankano, Yumiko. "The Campaign for Civilization or Removal: Thomas L. McKenney and Federal Indian Affairs in the Formative Years" Bulletin of the Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University No.48 (2013) 85+ online
• Officer, James E. "The Bureau of Indian affairs since 1945: an assessment." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 436.1 (1978): 61–72.
• Osburn, Katherine M. B. " 'To build up the morals of the tribe': Southern Ute women's sexual behavior and the Office of Indian Affairs, 1895-1932." Journal of Women's history 9.3 (1997): 10–27. excerpt
• Pevar, Stephen L. The Rights of Indians and Tribes (Southern Illinois UP, 2002)
• Porter, Frank W. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (1988), for secondary schools online
• Prucha, Francis P. Atlas of American Indian Affairs (U of Nebraska Press, 1990)
• Prucha, Francis P. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians (Abridged Edition 1986) online
• Rockwell, Stephen J. Indian Affairs and the Administrative State in the Nineteenth Century (2010) online
• Schmeckebier, L. F. Office of Indian Affairs: History, Activities, and Organization, Service Monograph 48 (Johns Hopkins, 1927) online
• STUART, PAUL HENRY. "THE U.S. OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, 1865-1900: THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF A FORMAL ORGANIZATION" (PhD dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1978. 7814288).
• Sutton, I. "Indian Country and the Law: Land Tenure, Tribal Sovereignty, and the States," ch. 36 in Law in the Western United States, ed. G. M. Bakken (U Oklahoma Press, 2000)
• Taylor, Theodore W. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (Routledge, 2019) online
• Taylor, Theodore W. American Indian policy (1983) online
• Treglia, Gabriella. "Cultural Pluralism or Cultural Imposition? Examining the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Education Reforms during the Indian New Deal (1933–1945)." Journal of the Southwest 61.4 (2019): 821–862. excerpt

On the 1972 takeover by Native American activists:

• Matthias André Voigt (2024). Reinventing the Warrior: Masculinity in the American Indian Movement, 1968-1973, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. (Template:ISBN).

Primary sources

• Francis P. Prucha, ed. Documents of United States Indian Policy (3rd ed. 2000) online

External links

• Template:Official website
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• Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Federal Register
• Background information about the Cobell Litigation
• Broken Promises: Evaluating the Native American Health Care System by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, September 2004